


The Candle that Burns Twice as Bright, Burns Half as Long

by stepOnMeZenos



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Ambiguous Warrior of Light (Final Fantasy XIV), Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood Spoilers, Other, ZenoHika Week 2020 (Final Fantasy XIV), Zenos-Typical Suicide References (Final Fantasy XIV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-24
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:13:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26081728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/stepOnMeZenos/pseuds/stepOnMeZenos
Summary: Zenos ponders about what meaning he can give to his unexpected second life.ZenoHika Week day 2, prompt: Candle
Relationships: Zenos yae Galvus/Warrior of Light
Kudos: 23





	The Candle that Burns Twice as Bright, Burns Half as Long

**Author's Note:**

> Two down, five more to go~

Zenos watches the candle flicker. 

It's the only thing illuminating the room. Everything beyond its tiny sphere of influence is cast in deep shadows. What a tiny, insignificant thing… easy to snuff out, much like any ordinary person's life is so easily ended. 

Much like his own life ended so easily, with but a touch of the blade. 

He exhales slowly, which causes the candle flame to flutter even more. He wanted to extinguish his own life, to fade from this world in that singular moment of transcendent joy, and yet, he alone was given the chance to light a second candle. He doesn't understand why.

The confusion has been addling his mind since he awoke in the body of a hapless resistance fighter less than a day ago. Finding shelter had to come first if he was to avoid perishing from the Gyr Abanian summer sun, but now that he is safe in this old shack for a time, he has to ask the question: why?

Now the memories of what transpired will gradually fade; the feeling of fulfillment he so vividly recalls will be consigned to the past sooner rather than later. Already he feels the familiar void nestling in his chest. 

If it can even be said to be _his_ chest. 

He wishes the Warrior of Light were here. In their presence, he felt clear-headed, as if a fog had lifted from his mind and revealed a gleaming sun, far brighter than this candle. They illuminated his life like naught else ever has. 

And now he is not only alive despite his wishes, he is apart from them and stuck in this weak, pitiful body. Were he to challenge them now, there would be no joy in the hunt, nor any point to it. He cannot relive the glory he experienced with his friend like this. 

He eyes the sword the resistance fighter had on him. A pathetic thing, half-blunted and showing the first signs of rust. The entire construction is unbalanced, and he can see flaws in the steel without even having to look for them. It would slit a throat as well as Ame-no-habakiri, however… 

Experimentally, he draws it and sets it against his neck, just like he did in the Royal Menagerie. It doesn't feel right. Back then, it was his triumphal curtain fall; his exit from the stage on which he finally, finally found his fulfillment. Now, it is the sad escape of a man past his prime whose purpose ended when his life should have. 

This is not the ending he wanted. 

He tosses the sword to the ground. A disgraceful tool unbefitting of him, even in this body. 

What is he to do now? He cannot go back and fight another battle that shakes the very heavens as he is, but nor does he see a way out of his predicament that he would deem acceptable.

Perhaps the first step needs to be understanding what led to his miraculous rebirth. It has to be connected to the strange whispers he has been hearing in his mind ever since, whispers not of his own voice… but no matter how much he focuses on them, he cannot make out any words. 

There is a possibility that comes to mind. Van Baelsar's reports spoke of yet another inexplicable ability of the Echo, that of transcending death itself. However, they also made clear that there is no reliable evidence of such a thing occurring, and the Echo is shrouded in mystery and rumours as it is. 

But if it _is_ what happened, then… perhaps there is hope yet. If he could escape death and acquire a new body once, then there is little reason why he couldn't do it a second time, this time reaching for a body that isn't old and decrepit. However, he will not do it by killing himself again. The risk of failing and being lost forever in the nadir of his life is too great. Nay, he will find a way to wield this unexpected new ability of his, just as he has learned to harness the power of primals with naught but the might of his will. It is perhaps the only area where he still reigns supreme over the Warrior of Light. 

No matter which obstacles present themselves to him, he will overcome them and find a better body. Surely there must be flesh worth using out there; perhaps none of them will compare to his own, which presumably rots in a grave now, but he can find better than this. And in the process, he may yet find even more application of this stolen Echo of his. 

And then… yes, and then he will seek out his beast once more. He will have his reprise—nay, he will find a way to make it even grander than before. He does not quite know how; Shinryu is gone, and he will be hard-pressed to find a better primal to use, but if not even death is enough to stop him, then that is a trifling hurdle. 

For the first time since his rebirth, he smiles. 

How grand a tale it will be… the villain, having transcended death itself, challenging the hero once more. It will be a purer fight, unburdened by the unwelcome framing of the petty wars fought by lesser men. Their next clash will be solely motivated by their own desire to bring their might to bear against one another.

The fact that this is even possible cements the idea that theirs was a fated meeting in his mind. If providence had not meant for them to dance, then why would he have unexpectedly awakened this previously unconfirmed ability of the echo? He never believed in such things, having passed them off as the superstitious nonsense lesser beings cling to for solace, but he cannot help but see it written all over this tale. None of this can be mere coincidence. It all fits together far too perfectly. 

But such questions are for those who witness them clash to puzzle out. It matters not whether it is fate or not. 

All that matters is that he will turn his second candle of life into a blazing inferno, that it might warm both of their souls when the curtain falls once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments appreciated.


End file.
